La Salle Green Hills, CLASS OF 1978

Monday, February 7, 2011

Alumni Homecoming of Feb 5, 2011 at La Salle Green Hills

The February 5 Reunion got started as early as 4pm. Old boys were streaming in, by the hundreds, as the speakers blared: from Tears for Fears, "Everybody ...wants to ...RULE the world..."

Present at the Homecoming were:
EL Presidente, Henry Atayde.
Benjie Manzano: very concerned with whom to vote for, and whom NOT to vote for, for LSGH alumni association board of directors. (I saw him at the entrance, paying for his ticket with Ludie of the Alumni Association.)
Brian Masigan: happily reminiscing over beer, on the top music Bands of the 1980s. Looking very fit.
More names staring with Letter "B"
Barry Orenciana: our karate expert.
Bobby San Buenaventura
Butch (Noel) Toledo: enjoying the food.
Benny Herbosa: very sociable, as ever.
Bonny Dimayuga: Mr. Cool
Bobby Inumerable
Butch Syyap: the first to get ice cream
Rigoberto "Bobby" Medalla: short, dark & handsome.
Bimbo _______________.
Buenaventura (Jojo) and several flashbulbs the size of volleyballs. The deeper he gets into this hobby, the larger his "equipment" .....let's just put it that way..
Baraoidan (Lyle): working on his social networking software.

* Mr. Valdez was also present. Big-time lawyer...

List of "J"
Jauregui (Chito)
Joel Tuano ... A photo was taken of Joel & his son, Joma, together with Jay Bote & his son, Simon. You will see it in Flaminiano's online photo album.
Jay Bautista and his son Simon, who has recovered well from surgery last year. (Jay thanks LSGH 1978 for help provided during Simon's hospitalization.)
Jason Lim
Joey Flaminiano: taking photos with a camera that shoots out a strong spotlight. He was wearing a T-shirt that said, "ANiMo" ... from a reunion of an earlier year.
Jaime P. Nunez, very young looking despite his white hair. I suspect that he just dyes his hair white just to look "venerable," because he gives pep talks to religious communities.
Joey Calderon, an I.T. expert
Jauregui (Chito)
JI REYES, our engineering professor at UP Diliman.
JUN REYES
.... ang daming Reyes, including
Rudy Reyes
Gil Reyes

Then there was
Ferdie Atendido: looking healthier now, and recovered from the tiredness of the previous week.
Lito Suzara (headed for a Palawan vacation Feb 6. Leaving the Phils Feb 15, headed back to Coquitlam in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he lives and works.) He just came from Boracay, where he enjoyed an 8oz cup of taho for only twenty-five pesos. He considered it cheap, until Stevie Liao said, it should only go for ten pesos.
Mario Garcia, our boat builder

DODIE TORRES: long time no see. His full name is "Audrie Raymund Torres." He brought along his son Angelo (also LSGH alumnus, now working with Citibank) and a younger son in Grade Three named MARC. It is so sad that his wife, Jean, died last month. She succumbed to a stage 4 cancer of the lungs. Her son Angelo painted a tattoo of a fighting tiger on his shoulder to remind him how proud he is of his Mom's fighting spirit.
Miguel Montenegro: arrived early, left last of all.
Horatio B. Yalung: a man of many talents.
Mike Aquino: who had a tearful, poignant reunion with a batchmate, (might have been Cesar C.) who scanned his face for ten seconds, thinking, "Sino kaya ito?" before finally shouting, "Ikaw nga yan, Mike. Puta'ng Ina. Wow. Ikaw nga yan! Mike!" followed by more happy cuss words and backslapping.

Greg Formoso
Gerry Laygo
Alex Figueroa: very talkative, ah.
ADRIAN ALTURA, in town for a few weeks. He bought about five "Feb 5 Reunion" shirts.
Au Abad Santos

and then
Minggoy Padua
Stevie Liao. *His brother Johnny was at the 'LSGH 1976' table near the stage.
RD Najar
Atty Anton Peralta
IKE YULO, wearing the LSGH 1978 V-neck T-shirt of a previous year.
Cesar Cabrera, our MR. Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Bobby Navarette works in Quezon City Hall, approver of business permits.
Danny Almirez, who stays often in Quezon Province.
Dino Laurena
Gao Pronove: happy to meet the batchmates.. he was also happy to meet his two brothers, who are from LSGH class of 1974 & 1976, in nearby tables.
Robbie Mathay, agribusiness entrepreneur.
Willie Cabangon. I shook hands with him amicably, altho the kanchawan was intense.

Four guys were dressed comfortably in bermuda shorts: Flaminiano, Martelino, Buenaventura, Gilles. Others were wishing they did, too.

Other people present at the reunion who i knew from other places:
Lester Castolo, CFA of LSGH 1980s
Joseph Pangilinan
Atty Tim Abejo
Newscaster MIKE Enriquez
Hans Smit: belongs to ?? LSGH 1972 and/or ? LSGH 1974 and/or LSGH 1976.
Roy Emata of LSGH 1986

Roy EMATA mentioned to me that, out of his Year 1986 batch of 400 graduates, 15 have died so far = 3 because of car accidents, and 12 due to heart disease, stress-related disorders, the pressures of work & raising a family. Not an average distribution of "causes."
...................................................

Ferdie Atendido pointed out to me RAMON BROBIO, probably the greatest golfer that La Salle has produced. Several times the Junior World Champion, more often than Tiger Woods.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The PROGRAM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Music playing on stage: 7pm to midnight.
"The Dawn" rock band with a lead singer named "Jett .........."
Some girl dancers with some parlor games.
A band with girl singers, the "P-Y-T."
"The Authority" band with Juan Miguel Salvador. playing, "With or Without You,"
HIGHWAY STAR by Deep Purple,
Bohemian Rhapsody, music by the Tears for Fears.
John Pangilinan & Gretchen Fullido (newscaster. studied at ICA school near Xavier)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

8 pm. A video on the big screen, compiled by LSGH 1986, recalled the People Power revolution, "EDSA 1," and the Namfrel Quick Count at Saint Benilde's Gym.

Photos also flashed on screen, of Spoof student newspapers with the Banner Headlines:

"Brother Dizon Convicted of Pushing Dope!"
and
"Brother Dizon Dines with Nora Aunor!"

There were Video clips with Interviews of Brother Gus Boquer, Brother Rolly Dizon, and of one other ... a La Salle high school principal of that era.
....................................................
830pm. While the Go Girls were dancing on stage, some of their members also stood on the tables amid the crowd and danced there.

Acting on a dare, a pot-bellied Mr. "Pepper" Nakpil from LSGH 1976 also got on top of a table, and pulled up his shirt to expose his nude belly.... Then he danced to the rhythm of the beat, drawing the laughter of crowds and unbelieving stares. I asked Johnny Liao why the hell he did that. Answer was: he did it to win a bet. Because he won the bet, he won money from many of his classmates. He then donated the money to pay for the hospitalization of their sick classmate. One of their classmates had had a nervous breakdown. So Pepper willingly did the humiliating stunt to raise funds.

9pm. Speech of Henry A. about the 100 year- anniversary activities. (Cheers from the Audience but Heckling from the area of "1978". No prophet is without honor except with his own batchmates.)

There followed song numbers, ballads, by Gary Valenciano.
and audio-visual presentations about deceased classmates of the celebrating batches.

....................................................
Around 10pm, i saw one fellow, about 25-years-old ....swaying, deep drunk, and being helped by his classmates to sit down on a chair. He could not even stay seated. His head was spinning. He kept falling to the ground, raising clouds of dust.

I turned away from the sight. I asked JI REYES, "How about you, Ji. Aren't you tipsy?" Ji Reyes looked at me, as if to say, "Do you have to ask?" His verbal answer was, "I've been drinking beer and "hard," since 4pm. Go figure." But to his credit, he was completely in control and able to walk straight. (Ang tibay natin, ah.) Not so the younger generation.
....................................................

Dinner & Drinks
...................................................
The dinner buffet was generous. Free-flowing ice-cold draft beer. Shots of gin, whiskey. Glasses of wine. Coke & sprite, vodka with coffee at the "Mixology bar." Lechon piggy (porky pops) & lechon baka.

Pasta, beef, roast pork. java rice & barbecue sticks. "Goodah" flavorful lugaw with crunchy chicharon. All the Selecta ice cream you can eat.

At the LSGH table, there was Johnny Walker Black, Red Wine, and special sauce for bread. Even some young ones from LSGH 2004 & 2006 were apparently invited to partake of it. They were obediently standing in line, bun of bread in the hand, ready to dip into some olive oil with mysterious attractive properties. Someone was pouring out the oil, while furtively looking left or right. I wonder why. There were sliced oranges, too, functioning like a Glade Air-Freshener.

One of the younger batches was trying to sell us Green rubber-bracelet watches for P250. Mura lang daw, only two hundred fifty pesos. Stevie Liao spoke up and claimed that he got his watch for only P230. On hearing that, the guy selling the watch could not find the words to say, what he was thinking. I could hear what he was thinking: "Stevie, Konti na lang nga ang tubo namin dito, tapos ibabara mo ako." The guy did not seem to be good at sales talk. Even though the guy was six foot- six tall, Stevie 'shut him up.' He could not even talk for some minutes.

Around 9pm, Raul Barredo dozed off. By 11pm, he was about to fall down to his right side, so we placed chairs in strategic position to catch him if he keels over. Some of us were concerned that he might have trouble getting home if he has to drive in a sleepy condition. One guy volunteered to drive him home. The other guys, said, don't worry about Raul, he will be fine. He does that all the time: doze off on a chair, ever since high school. Ah, ganun ba. Sure enough, Raul woke up refreshed and rested by the time that the fireworks display exploded loud and strong.

At 1120, a whole lot of Fireworks went off, big chrysanthemum blooms of green and gold. Some that flickered like mirrors. Spectacular. Mostly, they were rockets of yellow flame that became big blooms. Some blooms separated into spiral patterns like "tails of foxes" with a noise like a whistle-bomb.

At this point, someone led the Alma Mater song: "We'll hold your banner high and bright ....!" and everyone sang it, with raised fist.

The Band played,
"We will Rock you"
"Stairway to Heaven."
"Always Something There to Remind Me."

..................................................................
A Young "Representative" of the Grade School
..................................................................
The son of Dodie Torres, Marc, is in Grade Three at LSGH. WE may think we know what Grade Three is like, but did you know that they have ROBOTICS club now? It's extra-curricular, for those gifted in Science & Technology... They not only play with remote-controlled devices, but they fabricate the controllers and the robots.

I was chatting with Marc Torres, because i sensed that he felt out of place with all the 50-year old men around him. So amidst the chaos, i sat with him, and asked him, how is school, what do you all do in the classroom, what are your field trips like?

I told him that, when i was in Grade 3, La Salle Green Hills made a field Trip to the Magnolia Ice Cream factory at Aurora Boulevard. We were transported by so many Varvi buses. We got to tour the ice cream factory. After that, we all got twin popsies or other frozen delights.

Marc was glad to have someone to chat with. He started to tell me some jokes. First he told several in English. Then he had one that was best related in Tagalog. So he asked me, "Would you mind, if i switch to Tagalog." I said, "Go ahead, please do." And he cracked he joke about some American tourists who imitated some Tagalog words and got into trouble, because of it.

I am impressed with Marc. It is pleasant to encounter a well-mannered schoolboy who knows how to say, "Please, ....Excuse me,... Would you mind if i....." We older guys tend to enjoy "kanchawan" and insulting one another to generate a heartwarming feeling. Just the same, I congratulate Mr. & Mrs. Dodie Torres for bringing up their son very well, to speak politely. Very heartwarming to encounter that.

..................................................................
Last Men Standing: still on campus by Midnight:
..................................................................

Miguel Montenegro, Danny Almirez (waiting for his brother for the long drive home), DODiE Torres & his two sons, Angelo & Marc.... Also: Dave Martelino, Chito Jauregui. Raul Barredo. Lito Suzara. Bobby San Pablo. Iba na ang matitibay.

The advantage of being one of the last to leave is that, you can take home all the abandoned bottles of liquor on the table. I was about to lay claim to a bottle of scotch with one-third of the contents inside when i heard Danny Almirez telling me, "Get a glass...."

With his right hand, he pointed to a bottle of wine, "hiccup," that he was holding in his left hand, "hiccup." I said, "Wine? No thanks...." To my horror, Danny lifted the bottle of wine and took a swig. ... I then concluded that if Danny is capable of drinking the wine straight from the bottle, it is also very possible that twenty sets of lips might have sipped the Johnny Walker Black Label, straight from the bottle. So i abandoned my original plan of bringing home the bottle of scotch --it might be Forty-Proof Alcohol and Twenty- percent Saliva.

Sandy G

* do you have a story to tell about "what happened after the good old boys left the reunion and pretended to be going home" ... i'm sure they were so full of beer that they went to a water store to order water. (Water therapy prevents & cures some hangovers....)

....................................................
Special Mention:
In a wheelchair, but enjoying the spectable, Coach Tatang Mendoza.
Lots of students crowded around him to have their group photos taken.

....................................................
WHO was absent:
....................................................

the people i was half-expecting to show up at the reunion were:

Buddy de Joya
and
Jerrick Gangoso (given that his brother IKE was hanging around LSGH 1978 a lot.)

...

We have 266 batchmates on the yahoogroups, but only 135 on Facebook. Got to bring that number up to 390.

....................................................

Sandy G

Saturday, February 28, 2009

History of the Track & Field team

To: peterpan@pacific. net.ph; LSGH78@yahoogroups. com
From: alturaam@netscape. net
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:58:14 -0500
Subject: Re: LSGH 1978 NCAA 2nd to the last Update... and Some History from over 30 yrs ago

Fellow bastards,

A little bit more color and detail on that 4x400m a nd that afternoon:

1) The 4x400m is the last event of the meet and effectively the last sports event of any kind for the athletic season. While everyone at the time thought that the T&F championship and more importantly, the General championship, was going to be decided by that relay race alone, we had already beaten Ateneo at that point because a silver medal in the Shot Put, courtesy of our own Pol De Leon, had not been tallied or counted until the event was over. That was worth a huge 5 points, and it had somehow fallen thru the cracks. Ask Ji Reyes (another shot putter) or Johnny Gomez, our Recorder at the time. So in reality, it was already in the bag, even before the 4x400m was run. Anyway, it made for great drama.

2) Ateneo should have won the T&F championship that year and were favored to do so. Most of their medals the previous year in '77, which we also won, were scored by their juniors or their own class of '78. On paper, it should have been theirs. What happened was that LSGH had to many unknown people who just came out of the woodwork whom Ateneo simply couldn't account for. People like Art Ogtong, Andy Lee, Butch Valdez, Topher Ancien, etc. Credit us, LSGH '78, for seeking out and harnessing this talent.

3) I spoke to John Lacson, their ace pole vaulter (a DLSC grade schooler, and perennial meet heart throb) about this event years later in '89, at a chance meeting at Habo Cardenas' bachelor party=2 0in SF. They took it hard and were bitter about it. The Ateneo T&F captain, a sprinter by the name of Juaning Cabanero, who I think had run for Ateneo from the time he was a freshman, said he would run all the way home to Merville, Paranaque from Rizal Memorial-if they lost. They lost, he kept his word and ran home to Merville, straight from the meet. Jason Lim (one of our own sprinters, as Minggoy notes), taga Merville ka, hindi ba? If you know him, ask him about it.

4) In that same chance meeting, John Lacson opined at the time that if one of their own guys, a stud 400m runner/hurdler by the name of Jimmy Hofilena was there, they would have won. This guy didn't run for Ateneo his senior year so he could do drama/theater. He was really good and had medaled the year prior. Would they have won? Who knows. I raised this with Andy Lee years later. He thinks that's bullshit.

5) Art Ogtong's high jump of 5'8" was a PR (personal record) for him. On that day, the planets and stars lined up and he cleared 5'8 to win it all. A gold medal and a huge 7 points. I don't think he ever cleared 5'4' in practice or any of the previous meets. I also believe he never cleared or even jumped competitively afterwards. Mike Aquino would do 5'6" consistently and I think he had a 5'8" jump at an earlier meet. Mike was heavily favored for that evetn. He got20the silver and still talks about that to this day. I'm not even sure Art was supposed to be one of the 4 LSGH jumpers for that event. I think it was a last minute decision by Tatang to take Art over Bong Manese, a consistent 5'4" jumper. As many of you might know, Art took that medal to the great Coach Evangelista of UP, he himself a former national-class high and triple jumper. Art talked the coach into taking him in and got into UP, with that piece of hardware alone.

6) 4x400m lineup: Lito Santos ('78), Jovy Sacro ('78), Paul Zuluaga ('79) and Andy Lee ('78). Jovy was inserted into the relay at the last minute. Game time decision by Coach Tatang Mendoza. That was Gen. Ignacio's spot. Alex is still semi-disppointed about it and should be. Over beer and vodka, he told me about it in Feb '08 at our 30th. Jovy was more involved with basketball at that point and had trained very little. Running 400m flat out with little training is not something to be taken lightly, but great athletes with great lungs can do it. Jovy did and actually put an additional 5-10 m into Ateneo's runner. Ateneo was smoked in that race. By the time Andy got the baton, he already had a 20-25m lead.

7) That relay race was the last high school athletic encounter of any kind, between La Salle Greenhills and Ateneo in the NCAA. Ateneo withdrew from the league the next year. DLSU would follow around 1980, on account=2 0of the La Salle-Letran incidents at the time. Then of cour se, which I found out later from Henry, LSGH was ruled out of the UAAP in favor of De La Salle Zobel because of volleyball game foibles earlier in the year.

So there you have it. It was our fault, bastards.

cheers,
Sambo

Sambo,

Reading your Mail was like being back in Rizal Memorial in '78 again. Brings back good memories.

About Ateneo being sour and all, we were just better, faster, higher and stronger; If I remember right all the golds in the track event were split between us and Letran. Ateneo had to settle for a handful of bronze and silvers. They were just DOMINATED. John Lacson mentioned a lot of "ifs" but hey, history is full of ifs. Jimmy Hofileña my balls. The guy from Letran (Blanco, or Reyes, I think) would've beaten him anyway.

As for Art Ogtong being in a zone that day, it was more of Mike being out of it. Was Jovy Sacro a hero? All of you were. I remember Tatang deciding to put in Jovy at the third leg saying he had sseniority over Alex since he was with the team since his sophomore year(?) But wasn't Alex as well? Paul Zuluaga, Andy Lee and Lito Santos were no-brainers. The toss up was hard, since Alex practiced more than Jovy and I didn't think it was fair. Anyway, let's not forget the exploits of Topher Ancien, who NEVER practiced, Jojo Figueroa who was just unbeatable that year, Noel , Paul , Joe Jacky and Banzon, our reliable juniors.

Thanks for the memories, guys

Johnny G

Original Message-----
From: Jose Roy <jmroy111@hotmail.com>
To: sambo altura <alturaam@netscape.net>; henry atayde <peterpan@pacific.net.ph>; LSGH <lsgh78@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sat, 28 Feb 2009 5:01 am
Subject: RE: LSGH 1978 NCAA 2nd to the last Update... and Some History from over 30 yrs ago

Dear Sambo,

What a dramatic account. Great memories, great feelings of being a La Sallite. Tears welling in my eyes when you mentioned the golden contribution of Jason Lim.

-----Original Message-----
From: Henry Atayde
To: jm_padua@yahoo. com; lsgh78@yahoogroups. com
Sent: Fri, 27 Feb 2009 7:07 am
Subject: RE: LSGH 1978 NCAA 2nd to the last Update

Pare! What a memory you have. I felt bad that I missed all the celebration after the 4 X 4 team captured the gold which was needed to win the Track and Field over-all championship and the General Championship because I had to go to Taft and call Br. Gabe Cannon who arrived for the awarding. Atleast I saw us win! Animo 78! Henry From: LSGH78@yahoogroups. com [mailto:LSGH78@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of Miguel Padua
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2009 8:33 AM
To: lsgh78@yahoogroups. com
Subject: Re: LSGH 1978 NCAA 2nd to the last Update

We also won the NCAA General championship trophy in 1978! This was the year that Art Ogtong became the gold medalist and luckily for us, Jason Lim was a member of the track team. This was also the year that Henry Atayde dashed all the way to De La Salle through the back entrance of Rizal Memorial in order to rouse the Brother President and happily inform him that the 1978 Bastards and Bullies captured the;NCAA General Championship trophy.

Padua

--- On Thu, 2/26/09, Henry Atayde wrote:

From: Henry Atayde
Subject: LSGH 1978 NCAA 2nd to the last Update
To: onelasalle@yahoogro ups.com, "Manos" , LSGH78@yahoogroups. com, dlsaamancomm@ yahoogroups. com, "'alumni'" , spdo@lsgh.edu. ph, "Br. Felipe Belleza" , "Br. Vic Franco" , "Br. Dodo Fernandez" , "Br. Bobby Casingal" , "Bacay, Ma. Socorro C." , "SONNY ALVAREZ" , "'Br. Bernie Oca'" <ocab@dlsu.edu. ph>, LSGH78@yahoogroups. com, combatch82@yahoogro ups.com, "regina barrenechea" , "Cindy Banaria"
Date: Thursday, February 26, 2009, 6:39 AM

Dear Lasallian Community,

La Salle Green Hills is celebrating it’s 50^th year with the NCAA General Championship already in it’s grasp. And what better way to20close the 84^th NCAA Season then by winning the Track and Field Over-All Championship!

During the past two days, the LSGH Track & Field Team started with strong finishes in all the heats, having 3 or 4 participants in every Finals running event, aquiring numerous gold , silver ad bronze medals. Not to mention the 4^th and 5^th finishers which also contributed points to the team.

Numerous records were broken. The highlight of the running events was the 4 X 100 meter relay. We won this event with just fractions of a second. I will announce the record breakers in a later date. And to think, we were seeded below San Sebastian and Letran.

The another surprise was the success of our athletes in the field events which was always dominated by San Sebastian. To highlight the occasion, our Pole Vaulter broke the NCAA record that stood for 5 years!

=0 A

As of today, in Track &a mp; Field, LSGH is ahead by 149 points.

The events for Friday (tomorrow) are the finals for triple jump, the high jump, the steeple chase, javelin, 2000 meters, 800 meters , 200 meters and the 4 X 400 meters. We are confident of winning the gold in the 800 and 200 meters plus the 4 X 4. We would probably sneak in a couple of silvers and bronze plus finishers in the rest of the day’s events because our boys had qualified in all.

So I guess, the title is ours. This will give LSGH a total of 5 Championship Trophies out of 9 events. Beach Volleyball is still a demonstration sport for the Juniors.

The last Track and Field Championship of LSGH was in 2006. We also won the General Championship at that time.

Awarding of medals will take place tomorrow starting at 2 pm . While the awarding of the20 over-all trophy and the general championship trophy will be at around 4:30 to 5 pm.

As for the senior division, Mapua is dominating the field with Letran and CSB fighting for 2^nd. This is very important because a second place finish may also give the CSB Senior Team the General Championship. By the way, CSB was the General Champion in Season ’83. At that time, LSGH lost to San Sebastian by just 3 points.

Let us pray that both schools will be victorious tomorrow.

I invite all of you to go to Rizal Memorial and support our teams.

ANIMO LA SALLE!

Henry

Monday, February 16, 2009

Photos from Henry Atayde

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Feb 7, 2009 50th anniversary

Quite a big turnout.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Contributed Article by RJ Ledesma, LSGH 1991

Dear fellow La Sallians,

I hope this article stirs fond memories of our high school alma mater and provides you with some motivation to attend the homecoming this coming Saturday, February 7. Please pass this on to your fellow LSGH alumni.

Animo La Salle!
Rj Ledesma, HS'91

JADED

I have been green-minded for half my life. I’ve been unwittingly green since I set foot in La Salle Green Hills (LSGH), a khaki shorts-wearing brat with my hair pomaded to one side, kamiseta tucked snugly into my Voltes V underwear, and a tear-drenched face smeared with uhog, because I didn’t want my Yaya to leave me alone at school.

I became comfortably green during high school, a black pants-wearing lad with my hair drenched with spray net, undershirt tucked snugly into my Rick Astley underwear, and an acne-ridden face smeared with pimple cream. I demanded that Yaya drop me off 50 feet before the school gate so my classmates would know that I was now independent.

And I stayed irrevocably green when I made my way to the Taft campus, a maong-wearing young man with his collared shirt un-tucked (I could no longer tuck my shirt into my Backstreet Boys underwear because the discipline officer, said that this was a disciplinary offense). Yaya could not enter the campus because she lacked a school ID.

I was in the same institution for 17 years of my life because, much like our receding hairlines, studying in La Salle was a family legacy. Green had been hard-wired into my DNA. I am a La Sallian three generations deep, and proud of it. In fact, right after college graduation, the university was foolhardy enough to let me teach for all of one semester (my students have since finished with therapy, thank you very much). If I were any more green, I’d be arrested for public indecency.

If you were to ask me what part of my education cemented my love for a school founded by a French priest 300 years ago, I would say that it was the time in my life that hair began to sprout in unfamiliar places: high school.

As LSGH celebrates its Golden Anniversary, I can’t help but wax nostalgic over my high school days. Unfortunately, I can only recall snippets of the academic portion of my high school education. I still remember what circle of hell I belong to in Dante’s Inferno. I barely remember the theorems from my geometry class. And I can only remember the relevant parts of the male and female anatomy. But I don’t think you can blame my teachers — God bless them all — for lack of trying

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that goes, “May you live in interesting times.” That being the case, my high school life was probably as interesting as a car accident on EDSA. Our freshman year exploded with a bloodless revolution — that was only a few hundred meters from our school, I might add. Our sophomore and junior years were riddled with failed kudetas and punctuated by power shortages. And what did we have to cap off our senior year? An earthquake.

Although my batch mates and I did have a rather idiosyncratic high school career, it was probably no less idiosyncratic than the other generations who grew armpit hair while studying at LSGH. They’ve had their own share of interesting times — from the First Quarter Storm to Martial Law to the Aquino Assassination to the Estrada dog and pony show to the iterations of People Power to the Arroyo shadow play to the Jun Lozada telenovela. But despite the spectrum of political melodramas that framed our high school years, there are “extracurricular activities” that have been shared across many generations of LSGH graduates. Even as curriculums change, fashions change, and waistlines change, some things remain incorrigibly constant.

We had our Search-Ins and Covenants. We learned how to smoke hit-hit buga style during lunch break. We had our Kundirana. We formed our own self-made profane-sounding fraternities. We had our visits to Golden Acres Retirement home. We were engrossed in a brisk trade of pornographic material. We had our Kabihasnan fairs. We skipped class to enjoy a meal at Le Ching Tea House in Virra mall. We had our school dances. We accepted violation reports like they were badges of honor. We had our RIFA and NCAA tournaments. We enjoyed the fringe benefits of an unsupervised soiree. We had our Namfrel Quick Counts. We blew up our toilet bowls with firecrackers. We had our high school Mass. We were embroiled sapakans on the field after class. We thanked God for our adolescent reward that was the Girls Athletic League (GALs). And we always tried to sneak a peek at our teacher’s underwear. (Sorry about that, Mr. Espino.) All these stories are retold in a perpetual loop
among our barkadas, and just seem to grow bigger and more unwieldy with each retelling.
On top of these experiences, the one thing we will definitely never forget is our stratification in the high school totem pole. You were the coño boy or the kanto boy. You were the teacher’s pet or the teacher’s enemy. You were the sosyal or you were the sociopath. You were the nerd or you were the repeater. You were the pala-biro or the pala-away. You were the chick boy or the boy who wanted to be a chick. Ah, the saccharine-sweet memories of high school life. Some of us want to relive it while some of us will never live it down.

And because of (or some might say, in spite of) our La Sallian upbringing, our Green Hills campus has sprung forth alumni who have contributed to the grand production number that is Philippine society. Until now, I find it hard to believe that I have shared the same set of teachers, smelly lockers and expired canteen food with these esteemed gentlemen who have inspired me by their example (or by their shenanigans) .

If only the campus walls could make tsismis, we could uncover what exactly were the turning points in their secondary school lives that made them the upright Christian gentleman of today. Did Paeng Nepumuceno score his first perfect rack at Coronado Lanes after playing hooky from school? What type of gayuma Ralph Recto and Kiko Pangilinan concocted during chemistry class to make them irresistible to heavenly bodies? Which teacher pressed the “fast forward” button on Mike Enriquez’s mouth and neglected to press “stop”? Where was the elusive electrical socket that Gary Valenciano stuck his finger into before his song and dance audition with the Kundirana? For the sake of our nation, some of these questions must remain unanswered.

However, what inspires me the most about La Salle is the Christian Brothers themselves, particularly during these interesting times. Because, as the Brothers are wont to remind me when this column gets a bit too green-minded, my Christian education did not end when they handed me the diploma.

Over a series of public statements that the Brothers have shared with the country, they have called on our nation’s (ahem) leaders to be accountable to the truth — not because it’s the popular thing to do, not because it’s the unpopular thing to do, but simply because it’s the right thing to do. After all, as Catholic educators charged with shaping the moral fortitude of the next generations of Christian gentlemen, the Brothers were not only holding our (elected?) officials accountable for the Christian values that were expected of them, but the Brothers were also holding themselves accountable for the values they taught to their students.

The sentiments that the Brothers have shared through their public statements are no different from the sentiments they have shared with their students in the classrooms — the responsibility of putting our faith into action. And, with the actions that the Brothers have taken to stand for the truth amid an atmosphere of fearful silence, La Salle continues to teach me about my faith. About courage. About responsibility. About compassion. About generosity. Because that is what my La Sallian education is all about. That, and some geometry, too.
Man, I didn’t know what Yaya Cora was getting me into when she first dragged me to school.

Nowadays, maybe not all of us alumni cheer as insanely as a contestant on Wowowee during a La Salle-Ateneo basketball game. Or recall the school cheers from stock memory. Or even attend homecomings. But if there’s anything that the Brothers want all alumni to remember about their La Sallian education, it is this: to keep a rosary stashed in your pocket and to treasure four lines of prayer that should be skewered like an arrow into their hearts.

Let us remember that we are in the Holy Presence of the Lord.
I will continue, O my God, to do all my actions for the love of you.
St. John Baptist de La Salle, Pray for Us.
Live, Jesus, in our hearts, forever.

This is what Animo La Salle is all about.
* * *
For comments, suggestions or if you want corporal punishment in the school curriculum, please text PM POGI to 2948 for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers. Or e-mail ledesma.rj@gmail. com or visit my blog at www.rjledesma. net.

Silver jubilarians La Salle Green Hills (LSGH) Batch 1984 will concurrently host the annual homecoming and 50th anniversary of LSGH entitled, “ORO, PLATA, VERDE… Never Shall We Fail!” on Saturday (Feb. 7).

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Henry Atayde writes the Story of December reunion

LSGH '78 -21st Christmas Reunion in 2008 >> for publication in ANIMO magazine.

By Sandy Gilles, Grade 7 LSGH 1974 and Henry Atayde, high school LSGH 1978

About 40 of the "old boys" gathered together on the first Thursday of December, at the "clubhouse" of LSGH 1978, at 18 Mars Street, Bel Air Village, Makati. Many thanks to Benjie Manzano, our host, for the venue.

We thank Class Chairman Henry Atayde for his leadership, and his speeches. We appreciate his speeches, even if he was hooted down repeatedly by hecklers like Minggoy Padua, Jason Lim and Jojo Beunaventura.

We thank also Au Abad Santos for running the call center and managing our "call" girls that kept the classmates well informed of the forthcoming Dec 4 party and other Batch activities. First Thursday of December has always been the date and Batch '78 has been meeting for 21 straight years.

First to arrive were Henry & Benjie, Greg Formoso, and Joel Tuano. Next batch were Brian Masigan and Sandy G. Brian was bearing gifts: Popperroo popcorn in the Crunchy Munch flavor.

Beer barrels (donated by Henry Atayde) arrived at 6pm while the CEBRERO catering team arrived at 6:30pm. Joey Cebrerro himself arrived like a jolly Santa Claus saying, Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas. Joey is now running a brisk business, catering to corporate clients -- hundreds of people each day enjoy his tasty meals in their offices or convention centers. The range of customers is about 800 - 2000 a day. There were other food donations like the Lechon from Joel Tauno , Pancit from Judd Roy, Santi's cheeses, hams and salamis from Willi Cabangon and various pastries.

Au Abad Santos was hobbling. How did you break your leg, AU? He said, "while wakeboarding in CAMSUR".... EEEEENGGGK, wrong answer... Liar! In truth, he broke his ankle while falling down a flight of stairs. Something as ordinary as that. So he walked around with crutches. Very considerate as usual, Jojo
Buenaventura was shouting at AU to "please help us out to move the tables and chairs around. Au, don't think you are excused from lifting the furniture around. Halika dito." Of course, AU was totally angry and started to spear JOJO Buenaventura with his crutches, .....and he threatened to smash Jojo's camera with his crutches. Of course, tawanan kami lahat.

Ardie Najar arrived, so did Buddy de Joya, Ricky Lopez, and Joey Flaminiano. They are the athletic types, looking very fit. For the rest, we will not name names, but they are also very athletic as far as Japanese Sumo is concerned.

Next to arrive were Anton Peralta, Ceasar Cabrera, Jay Bautista, Stevie Liao, Minggoy Padua. Minggoy is controversial. It seems he is accused of something anti-Class of 1978, and it seems he is presumed guilty without fair trial, which is only fair for guys with a case history, like Minggoy. Thus, he is now under probation.

At 8pm somebody shouted, hey, it's time for Drugs. So therefore the senior citizens among us, brought out their MERCURY DRUGS. They took their anti-cholesterol tablets, their anti-diabetes or anti-gout pills. Whew,
times have changed.

Next to arrive were Ike Yulo, Inumerable, Norman Hison, Raymund Sy, Montenegro, .....I can recall everybody's last names but have trouble with their nicknames because our teachers used to call us by our last names and we would do the same with each other.

Also present were Bonny Dimayuga, Dino Laurena, Bobby San Bue, Figueroa, Jayson Lim, Chris Swanson Belardo, HERBOSA, Lyle Baroidan, BARRY ORENCIANA,Ron Petterson! (it was his first time to attend an LSGH reunion... he usually goes to the Don Bosco high school reunion)...Ron was happy to be present at lsgh's reunion, finally.

JI REYES arrived....said hello to the call center ladies, Kim and Haydee, who have been following us up for attendance since 2001. Ji was concerned
that he got a text message ordering him to report to the LSGH reunion, and it was signed by "Haydee," and the text message was accidentally seen by his
wife... ("AT SINO.... naman itong Haydee na ito, ha, a ver.")

Arsenic Lacson showed up... he wore his hair long. A dozen others showed up, WITHOUT HAIR.... no names need be mentioned, or heads will roll. Other
Batchmates arrived, whose names I am now researching in our Ranger and Scope yearbooks

The food was good and tasty, with wonderful oyster and chili sauce, coconut cream, Flavio's oil etc..... but the old boys were watching their weight.
They concentrated on the seafood and ignored the juicy yummy SISIG, however, did not spare undressing........the Lechon.

Times have really changed, not because Wall Street is in crisis and the US economy is in recession, but times have really changed because THE OLD BOYS
are diet-conscious and gout-fearing men. That is why they only drank San Mig Lite beer and stuck to herbal alternatives the whole night.

By 8:30 pm, during the opening PRAYER, to formally open the rowdy reunion, Henry Atayde prayed fervently for HEALTH, more than WEALTH, for all the classmates and their families.

Henry also prayed for Jun Manego, a fellow batchmate, who is sick with various illnesses. (Raymund Sy managed to visit him last week. Henry Atayde was able to visit Jun and to pass on to him the well-wishes and prayers of the classmates.)

About a year ago, Jun Manego had a blockage in his intestines. It was surgically removed. They had placed a temporary bag. After six months he went for the routine removal of the bag and something went wrong. A three-hour operation stretched out to ten hours. Other internal organs started to malfunction. To this date, his feet are not functioning. Donations were collected discreetly and our Batch resident lawyers are looking into the case. We ask the other LSGH alumni to also pray for Jun Manego and to contribute to his hospital expenses, now approaching five million pesos. Please call the LSGH Alumni Office.

After all the speeches and heckles, everybody went back to their liquid and herbal diet. We enjoyed the reminiscing, getting in touch with old friends, and making new friends whom we may have neglected during our stay in LSGH.

We enjoyed physically moving the "class picture photo posing session" to different location, just to disrupt the careful planning of alleged professional photographer JOJO BUENAVENTURA. He arrived with three large white umbrellas with remote-controlled flashbulbs behind each.

We had photo sessions of the High School Alumni from LSGH, Grade School Alumni from LSGH, De La Salle Taft Grade School Alumni and the High School Alumni from La Salle Bacolod Grade School.

As the members of Batch '78 left the Manzano's residence, they carried with them a sense of lightness, peace and tranquility knowing that the Lord had bestowed another year with the gift of Life, the gift of Friendship and the gift of Purpose.

Walking to our cars with the traditional muddy shoes, bloated stomachs and light-headedness, we departed by shaking hands, not to say good bye but to reassure that we will see each other again next year at the LSGH '78 Club House, first Thursday of December 2009.